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The Crown and descendants of Rua Kēnana and Ngā Toenga o ngā Tamariki a Iharaira me ngā uri o Maungapōhatu will sign the agreement at Maungapōhatu on Saturday 9 September which bring the statutory pardon a step closer to reality.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has today announced the Crown will return to where Rua Kēnana was arrested more than a century ago to sign an historic agreement to advance a statutory pardon for the Tūhoe prophet and leader.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has congratulated Māori Television on the formal opening of its new headquarters in East Tamaki.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has today announced the appointment of creative design and digital media expert, Maru Eva Nihoniho (Te Whānau ā Apanui, Ngāti Porou, Ngāi Tahu), to the Māori Television Board.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell is optimistic a newly launched #kōrero pin will make it easier for people to use te reo Māori when they’re out and about.

“Similar pins overseas have been successful in helping revitalise language.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has praised Rotorua for leading the way in becoming the first bilingual city in New Zealand.

Mr Flavell was in the city today to unveil a plaque to mark the occasion, celebrate the bilingual initiatives throughout the city and launch the #kōrero pin to make it easier for those interested in te reo Māori to converse with each other.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell along with the Whakarewarewa Joint Trust have signed a vesting agreement that will ultimately transfer ownership of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute from the Crown, to Iwi.

Mr Flavell says it’s an important step to strengthen the Crown’s relationship with Wāhiao Tūhourangi and Ngāti Whakaue in this historical establishment.

“This is a significant step in strengthening the relationship between the Crown and Wāhiao Tūhourangi and Ngāti Whakaue.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell is welcoming nearly $390,000 of funding from Te Puni Kōkiri to support the redevelopment of Mataura Marae – Te Hono o te Ika a Maui ki Ngāi Tahu.

“This investment will enable the marae to be fully utilised and finally bring it to life for the community.  This project began 33 years ago and to see it get the funding it needs to be completed will be a tribute to those whose vision it was all those years ago,” says Mr Flavell.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has today announced the opening of applications for the third round of the Commercial Advisors Scheme under the Te Pūnaha Hiringa: Māori Innovation Fund.

This round opens in the wake of the June launch of the refreshed He kai kei aku ringa E RERE - the Crown-Māori Economic Development Strategy.  Enterprise development is one of the strategy’s five focus areas.

“We have set ambitious goals for the growth of Māori enterprises,” says Mr Flavell.

A new papakāinga housing development will be used to help house whānau who lost their homes in the Edgecumbe floods in April, says Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell and Building and Construction Minister Nick Smith.

The development being built at Kokohinau Marae 5km south of Edgecumbe will eventually be used for affordable housing for kaumatua, but Ngati Awa iwi have elected to initially use it to house whānau impacted by floods.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says more young Māori will get help to obtain essential documents to help set them up for their futures after an additional $8 million was allocated in Budget 2017 for Passport to Life.

“This extra $8 million over four years is in addition to the $4 million announced in May,” says Mr Flavell.

Whānau need to play a bigger role in tackling family violence if its scourge is to be removed from communities, Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says.

“We are struggling to win the fight against family violence and we need to change our approach. We can’t carry on with the same old methods – we’ve got to make changes,” says Mr Flavell.

“Family violence impacts far wider than those who are the victims – it affects the whole whānau. But whānau must be part of the solution.

Applications are now being accepted to a fund set up to support commemoration events for Ngā Rā Maumahara – New Zealand Wars, says Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell.

“Te Pūtake o te Riri - Wars and Conflicts in New Zealand Fund, has opened to support iwi, hapū and whānau commemorate the wars and conflicts between various iwi and the Crown which took place from the late 1840s to the 1870s,” says Mr Flavell.

Those wishing to apply for funding for national and regional events up until June 2018, have until 8 August to apply.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell is encouraging more Māori to register and cast their vote after launching a programme aimed at boosting electoral participation.

“The programme is targeting Māori aged 18-29.  At the last election, only 55 percent of Māori in this age group voted,” says Mr Flavell.

“They have the lowest rate of participation in our elections, so more has to be done to get them to enrol and vote, and more done to help young people understand the value of their vote.”

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell is thrilled that more than 100 residents at Minginui Village in the Bay of Plenty are a step closer to living in warm and healthy homes.

“The Māori Land Court on Wednesday confirmed the occupation and home ownership status of 57 houses in the village at a special hearing in Murumurunga Marae,” says Mr Flavell.

“The legal declaration clears the way for whānau to access support to upgrade or replace their homes”.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell is welcoming a partnership with the Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) to build entrepreneurship and business skills with rangatahi.

A series of five entrepreneurship workshops for Year 10 and 11 Māori students will be held under He kai kei aku ringa (HKKAR) – the Crown-Māori economic growth partnership.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell along with the Whakarewarewa Joint Trust, initialled a vesting agreement today that will ultimately transfer ownership of the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute from the Crown, to the iwi.

“This is an important step in strengthening the relationship between the Crown and Ngāti Whakaue and Wāhiao-Tūhourangi,” Mr Flavell says.

“Iwi members have been instrumental in the operation and success of Te Puia and the New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says a new $4 million pilot initiative he announced today as part of Budget 2017 will help young Māori obtain essential documents to help set them up for their futures.

“Successful young Māori have a significant impact on the country’s social and economic success and we want to give them all a chance to share in the opportunities that are out there,” says Mr Flavell.

The initiative, Passport to Life – Taiohi Ararau, will assist taiohi aged 15-24 to get all-important credentials for life.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has wrapped up his business and cultural mission to Malaysia with a public lecture on the Māori experience at the Universiti Teknologi (UiTM) MARA in Sabah, Malaysia.

“The people of Malaysia and New Zealand are already bound by culture, language, history and trade.  Our kinship to one another stretches back 5,000 years.  It can be found in our shared languages, our shared cultures and our shared DNA,” says Mr Flavell.

Māori Development Minister and Associate Minister for Economic Development Te Ururoa Flavell attended the re-opening of Fonterra’s Susumas plant in Malaysia yesterday.

The re-opening event is part of Mr Flavell’s business and cultural mission in Malaysia.

“We have strong ties with Malaysia in trade, education, security and defence, and tourism and we want to build on that.

“As such this mission has a specific focus on establishing relationships in the food and beverage sector.

Māori Development Minister and Associate Minister for Economic Development Te Ururoa Flavell witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Miraka Ltd and its Malaysian distribution partner, Storiiu, in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Miraka is New Zealand’s first Māori-owned dairy processor. The agreement means the company will start exporting its first own-branded consumer product.

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell has told Malaysian businesses they can rely on high quality, fresh and safe food and beverage products from Aotearoa New Zealand.

Speaking at a business matching event to introduce Malaysian businesses to Māori business leaders Mr Flavell says there is a huge untapped potential to work together in the food and beverage sector.

“It’s one we know well, because we have been growing and gathering kai in Aotearoa New Zealand for hundreds of years,” says Mr Flavell.

Māori Development Minister and Associate Minister for Economic Development Te Ururoa Flavell will leave tomorrow for a business and cultural mission to Malaysia with a focus on the food and beverage sector.  

“We know that Malaysia is a proven market opportunity with plenty of un-tapped scope to explore for Māori businesses. Malaysia is one of our top 10 trading partners and the second biggest in the ASEAN region. 

Māori Development Minister Te Ururoa Flavell says a nationwide event, Techweek’17 will provide more opportunities for Māori participation in the technology sector.

Techweek’17 is a nationwide initiative bringing together Aotearoa’s brightest technology and innovation talent with more than 100 events scheduled over nine days.

Mr Flavell who is committed to increasing Māori participation in the technology sector says,